BEIS competition for smart tech

BEIS has launched a competition for teams to apply for a share of a £4.4 million grant to develop products and services to delivery additional energy savings in homes through the use of smart meter data. The deadline to submit proposals is 25th March 2019.

Government is committed to ensuring that every home and small business in Great Britain has a smart meter installed by the end of 2020. BEIS says: “Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters and will deliver a much-needed digital transformation of our energy system.”

The Smart Energy Savings (SENS) Competition offers grant funding access to successful applicants to support product development and in-home trials. As well as fuelling innovation, the aim is for BEIS to collect evidence of the impact of products and services that can deliver energy savings in addition to the energy meters.

Types of products suggested by BEIS include those that offer feedback to residents on their energy use and / or give advice on interpreting feedback, including what actions to take. Other suggestions include technology that provides practical assistance to the resident such as ‘how to’ demonstrations, for example on how to use heating controls. Financial interventions such as grants or alternative tariffs will also be considered.

BEIS will also consider proposals that demonstrate how they will deliver alternative improvements (e.g. on wellbeing factors such as comfort) as a trade-off with potential energy savings for these groups of consumers. All applications should be able to demonstrate how they achieve savings, or provide alternative improvements, for groups for whom energy reductions may not be desirable.